Soybeans Climb to Eight-Month High on South American Supply Worries
Chicago soybean futures jumped more than 1% on Monday to their highest since June on concerns over supplies from South America and strong demand from China.
Corn and wheat gained more ground in Asian trade.
FUNDAMENTALS
* The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) hit its highest since June 2021 at $15.79 a bushel. The market was up 1.1% at $15.71 a bushel, as of 0139 GMT.
* Corn added 1.1% to $6.27-1/4 a bushel and wheat rose 0.8% to $7.69-1/4 a bushel.
* Crop watchers have been cutting their South American corn and soybean crop projections because of adverse weather, including drought, heat waves and excessive rains.
* Argentina's soy crop faces a make-or-break period ahead as the risk of drought creeps back, with rainfall "erratic" and heavy precipitation looking unlikely until the second half of the month, the Rosario grains exchange said in a weather report.
* The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Friday confirmed 295,000 tonnes in U.S. soybean export sales to undisclosed buyers, the latest in a string of sales announcements last week.
* Grain traders are beginning to square positions as they look ahead to this week's USDA crop supply and demand reports, which are expected to show tighter grain and oilseed supplies and smaller crops in Brazil and Argentina.
MARKET NEWS
* Asian share markets eased on Monday after stunningly strong U.S. jobs data soothed concerns about the global economy but also added to the risk of an aggressive tightening by the Federal Reserve.
(Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
